Member postings for Paul H 1

Hi Robin,

You 't regret changing to Ubuntu. I have used Linux for years, Mint on very old pcs (maximum RAM less than 1gb RAM), it makes them like when they were new or faster and Ubuntu on the laptop and my workstation. I have a more specialised Linux version for data recovery and fixing hard drive problems on a bootable USB that is also a godsend on old Windows drives. However before installing, back up your data and make a Windows recovery disc or bootable USB key and note the activation key (you never know if you will need it).

Having an ability to have access to Windows is still useful however as sometimes there are programs that only have a Windows version, not so often now but it happens.

The big thing that held me back for a long time from going totally Linux on a day to day basis was Autocad that I have always done my 2D drawings on since 1981. However after I found Draftsight from Dassault Systems the Solidworks people, that went away to. For Linux it is totally free and for me does all I need. For 3D there is FreeCad.

Depending on the size of your existing hard drive I would suggest dual boot as the way to go to.

Using Ubuntu you can do most of your stuff from the GUI a la Windows. After years of working that way I am now learning more about what is under the bonnet and using the terminal more.

Because of Linux being open source and so popular worldwide you will find if you have a problem you will find one or more normally several answers on the net. The askubuntu site seems to come up with an immense amount of help I find.

GO for it.

Paul

Hi Ryan,

The epoxy granite route could well help your project. How do you apply it in practice though? The following link gives some good ideas:

http://s3.cnccookbook.com/CCMillEpoxyFill.htm

He also refers to a more complex thread on the same forum for more theory and maths. Looking at what he is doing you should be able to combine the technique with sheet steel housings.

Regards,

Paul

That is a very nice set of jaws. It gives ideas me for holding more irregular shapes. If you want to go the whole hog though why not print a whole lathe. I receive regular news emails from Instructables and in one was this printed lathe by a young man at a US high school.

http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Lathe

Various contributers to this forum have discussed where are the next generation of model engineers will come from and the cross over between makers and model engineering. This I think is a good example.

Hello Ramon,

That is an awe inspiring renovation you have done. It looks along with the tooling you have made for it, an excellent subject for an article in MEW. I also suspect you have a very interesting workshop to write about.

Regards, Paul

Neil, thank you for explaining your technique. Unfortunately this won't work for me as Turbocad is Windows/Mac and I use Linux. I would be very interested to know if anyone here has achieved the same result in FreeCad.

Neil, can you reveal how you are modeling the threads please and what thread type? This is a subject that has come up on 3D printing forums and often causes difficulties. There are several people who have tackled this on Thingyverse with what looks like good results. Are you using one of these?

Paul

The horizontal/vertical bandsaw as discussed in this thread I have found to be a first class bit of kit for its price. I bought one for our workshop at work in the early '80s as money was very tight. Used carefully it did first class service for years and was still useful after we bought a big industrial bandsaw. The work done by Ian's bandsaw is a very good example of what you can do in quantity. With the right blades we also cut a lot of stainless steel.

Last year I bought another one from a French website with a German brand name. Still Chinese, but the quality is much better than the original I bought and it does the job very well. I have an Evolution cut off saw, which though efficient is very noisy. Using the bandsaw allows me to set up the cut and just leave the machine to it and quietly as well.

As Michael W points out there are loads of mods available. I have Mike Cox's on my to do list. In my opinion his website is a must to look at for this saw.

Paul

Hi Brian,

I am not going to suggest a lathe other than if you can push the budget a bit you will really get more for your money by careful buying. I want to mention some practicalities of you being in Spain. As you are finding the mainland European suppliers are a lot more expensive than UK. I went through the same process (I live in France) and bought from the UK. UK suppliers are quite happy to export in general I found. What you have to think about are delivery costs as well as purchase price. There are some suppliers like Machinemart who I believe don't export but have been suggested. Don't despair there is a solution.

Check what and if the supplier will charge to send the lathe to you. Look on Angloinfo.com in your region for who does transport to your area. There are always trucks going back and forward to the UK who will add a small load to their total, particularly if they are moving Brits back to UK (this long predates Brexit by the way) so probably want a bit more load on the Spain bound run. You can look in the Directory in the Classifieds or post a wanted. Often a UK supplier will deliver free to the movers depot.

Another service that exists is Anyvan.com that matches jobs to trucks, vans etc going your way and you will get several bids in general. I have used this and it worked great for something big and very breakable. Bidders will pick up from the supplier if you specify.

This also opens up your options to used machines if you wish. Remember also using your UK credit card to buy your new machine from the UK still gives you protection even though you live in Spain.

When you have your machine, tooling up is easy as the UK suppliers who are often discussed on this site have very good services.

Wishing you happy machining,

Paul

Sorry Colin, a bit of confusion on my part. I feel I have to pass on the Launchpad as at this stage I am just getting back into electronics and have a lot to learn and relearn so as has been discussed on various threads sometimes I am sticking to one microcontroller first, in my case Arduino.

I don't have any problems dealing with backlash, it was drilled into us apprentices in the first months in the training school. For a very cheap DRO, Stephen's technique would work well with the IGaging type scales; get approximately there with the IGage and then use the dials.

I have to take my hat off to Duncan's system, a simple and elegant solution. It has got me thinking!

The posts talking about Touch-DRO have opened up a bit of a Pandora's box for me, hence I have been doing some research on Yuri's site and others. Santa brought me an Arduino kit, much lighter on his sleigh than a complete milling machine!! This makes a very interesting option to a conventional DRO and really does put DRO in the realms of the home engineer.

However from all that I have read, it seems Yuri concentrates only on his TI Launchpad design now for most types of scales. The Arduino work seems to be only supported now by his friend at rysium.com and this seems to be only for the IGaging scales. This is an interesting option for a DRO but will take a hit on accuracy due to the IGaging spec compared to glass/magnetic.

So, Colin, I am very interested to know the Arduino code you used for your magnetic scales from machine-dro as it would provide the ease of sourcing Arduino parts here as opposed to the Launchpad with Yuri's proprietary code.

Paul

I must say Santa has been very generous with some members this year! Paul, I had no idea of what an RF45 looked like so I had to do some googling. A very solid piece of kit I must say. What I did notice though is it seems to be a rather popular machine for home cnc conversion, (yes I know I am going off topic).

I have had a good look at suggestions offered here for other DRO suppliers and they seem to be more expensive overall than Machine DROs M-DRO and Easson systems. Taking on board the opinions of having at least 3rd axis display available for expansion, I have been doing some comparisons and it is a hefty leap from just 2 axis to 3 axis. However for saying that the leap from 3 axis with LED display to the Easson ES-12 colour LCD display as currently advertised is £120, not that vaster sum for a lot more ease of use. As someone who rather likes a proper display this unit starts to become very interesting. I had a look at the videos and it certainly makes PCDs much easier. A lot of food for thought.

As home workshops (mine particularly) are often not insulated and minimal heating if at all, how are members DRO systems standing up to winter conditions and how many years have you owned them? What electronics problems have been experienced?

Paul

Thanks Stuart for the link. The comments there make fascinating reading. I have the impression that perhaps the Easson display has the edge on the M-DRO for its capabilities, Am I correct? Obviously the LCD version is perhaps a game changer (and budget buster).

I would like to get 0.01mm accuracy (~1/2 thou).

For those that have it, how useful do you find the third axis?

I am looking at buying a DRO for my mill, a SPG 2217-30 (about the same size as a Warco WM18). As I am doing a lot of workshop upgrading the budget is not vast and it will have to be a 2 axis package. I have been looking at the systems from Machine DRO, their own M-DRO packages and those from Easson. I don't want to buy direct from China as I would appreciate a British supplier with someone to call if I have a problem.

I interested in members advice on reliability and useability. I am I being an idiot just going for a 2 axis system? I do have the LCD depth gauge on the quill.

Are there other reasonably priced systems I should look at.

Thanks,

Paul

Hi Tractorman,

Your proposal to use Kingspan is a good one, it works very well but get the thickest you can afford. The last time I used it for a similar use 90mm was available (15 years ago). Perhaps thicker is now available. You can frame out the building with wood or metal frame. Where I live the latter is cheaper and it is quick to erect. As the building is for a workshop it is better to line out with OSB or shuttering grade plywood. This means that you will have a head start for fixing storage units, benches, tool racks to the walls etc. Also mounting trunking for electrics is easier.

What Neil used on his floor is interesting, but I would add rigid polystyrene insulating boards between the battens (same thickness), for both insulation and strength. However floor construction does depend a bit on what type of machines you propose to put on it, Other contributors may have already done this and can give advice. I have always stuck to concrete and when starting from scratch, used polystyrene beneath the concrete and laid 6" of rebarred self levelling concrete.

Paul

Hi Gary, no problems at all bringing your equipment over here as we are still in the EU. Expect to install new wiring, sockets and tableau (distribution board). Going by many positive posts about putting inverters on lathes with 3 phase motors that seems to be a good move anyway. If you want to use English plugs stock up on adapters and get yourself some UK extension cords/reels and put French plugs on them. In the long run it is easier to change your plugs over to French. After over 10 years in Normandy I have very little left on UK plugs. Having seen so many houses bought by Brits and for that matter French, the electrics rarely seem uptodate so you will probably need to rewire. English wiring, etc will invalidate your house insurance. On the positive side French wiring is pretty easy to do, very logical and the distribution board much safer, but Brit electricians registered and working here are normally very good in my experience. My advice would be to have a specific board in the workshop, so all the breakers (disjoncteurs) are to hand. I can suggest a very good book on the subject that I have used for all my projects, but it is written in French. The bricos (DIY stores) have everything you need for single phase. Legrand is very much the Rolls Royce of electrics. My double sockets for the workshop come in at 7 euros 35 at Bricomarche.

As I have only this year bought my lathe and mill (mail order from UK with no problems) I too am interested to learn about French machining material suppliers. Tooling I order online from the usual suppliers in the UK. In fact some French forum postings suggest UK suppliers. RDG and Arc are very fast on delivery here. Cast iron seems to be cheaper to buy off EBay Germany. French suppliers of machine tools and tooling seem to generally charge roughly double UK prices. Structural steel is fairly easy to buy locally and all the bricos have a rack of small sizes and profiles of aluminium, some plastic and steel of unknown grade, presumably mild steel (it welds easily but machines a bit rough). I have found some places more orientated to agriculture have bar up to 38mm and as Clogs says have some selection of non metric fasteners. The internet comes to the rescue there also. If I can help more please email.

Could some of you perhaps tell us which French suppliers you buy your steel etc. from?

Paul

Andy’s question is very much what I went through earlier this year when looking for my mill. I too looked at that size of machine and budget, but finally stretched the budget to get the biggest machine I could go to, as this is a one time purchase. A SP2217-30 from SPG tools. This is very similar to the AMA30LV from Amadeal but was not so expensive and a lot more economical than its other competitors. Yes the machine has some plastic gears, but spares are available and a belt drive conversion kit. To put some facts on Andy’s size of work, I went into the workshop and wound the head up to its limit and took some measurements.

Spindle to table – 470mm as per spec. Nose of drill chuck supplied to table 390mm

Height of my machine vice from ARC 120mm

So that gives 270mm between the top of the vice and the drill chuck.

I too wanted a stand originally, but after lots of measuring up decided to make a stout bench and use the money on the mill. I used 150x50 timber for the legs, crossmembers and top and then used on top of that a cheap 28mm kitchen worktop to give a nice cleanable surface. The whole bench is bolted into the concrete block wall. The height is 850 mm about the same as the stand. The bench also gives a lot more storage space underneath. With the head wound up the whole height of the machine on the bench is about 2050 mm (it’s about as I didn’t get the steps out).

With respect to some of the other comments made, I was brought up on mainly British made machine tools, Colchester, Boxford etc. and were my first choice for my lathe. I did a lot of research on what I could possibly buy British secondhand. As I rarely come to the UK, living in France, I would have had to buy sight unseen which is very off putting. For a mill, my choice would have been Bridgeport, they are great machines to use but trying to get a good one these days is not easy in the UK as they have not been made there for many years and they command a good price. However from experience I know they are big and heavy to manouver and for the home workshop (not USA as almost everyone US on YouTube machining videos seems to have one) they take up a lot of space.

So I went Chinese. Having followed since the early 80s the evolution of their machine tools which were at the time rather basic, I feel they now make some very good products and for the home shop unbeatable value. I know others will not all share that opinion. On the woodworking side I have Kity machines and I am sure they were made in China from some of the things I have found inside. I have been using these for 10 years with no problems. As a lifetime purchase, I fully expect to be able to leave my tools to my son who likes making stuff also.

Paul

Greeting from the Basse Normandie. After a long time lurking on this site, learning and finding answers to questions I have posed myself, I have decided to lurk no more. Not having had a lathe for at least 30 years, this year I decided to take the plunge and tool up the metal side of things in my workshop, which I equiped for machining wood years ago. Having done a lot of research I bought a SP2129 lathe from SPG Tools, with a 38 mm spindle and so far so good, a nice machine. To complement this, never having one at home before, I added an SPG 2217-30, building a very substantial bench so that I can have more storage underneath. As I haven’t used a mill for probably 25 years (Bridgeport and EMCO) I invested in Harold Hall’s excellent milling book to give myself a refresher course. Buying the machines from the UK is vastly cheaper for pretty much the same as sold over here and SPG’s service was great.

However for the cut off saw the opposite was the case. I bought the widely sold horizontal/vertical bandsaw that many of you have under different names. This was a lot cheaper from a German supplier on a French web site (still Chinese). I bought one a good 32 years ago when my company was very small and money was very tight. My workshop manager promptly called it the Mickey Mouse saw and awarded it a MM badge. It did very good work for many years! Mickey Mouse 2 seems improved and more accurate out the box. Some of my projects will be doing some of Mike’s Workshop mods though to make life easier and MM2 more versatile.

I like tools and an advantage of a decent workshop as you all know is to be able to make more tools. There is the well known precedent for this in model engineering with Harold Hall. Despite being time served and basic trained 44 years ago in a great company training school, I still feel very much a beginner. So there are quite a few projects lined up and questions to ask.

My machines are the biggest I can afford so as to tackle restoration and maintenance of my collection of tractors, mini digger and accessories, (I am well equipped on welding too). My favorite being my 1969 Massey Ferguson 135. You probably think this is big stuff, but mine are hobby machines compared to what runs around the farms here. We have horses and they create all kind of “interesting” maintenance tasks for which the workshop is essential. I am currently machining parts to recycle stable door hinges that a horse took out. This also needed a spot of hot forging as well (oxy propane).

It would be very interesting to know if there are any others from Normandy on the forum as it is very difficult to find like minded people here. The French home machinists don’t seem to be in this region though I am still looking. Also I am looking to find out where people buy their metal for machining in France as so far I have not found many suppliers unlike the lively forum posts about metal in the UK. Structural steel is easy but not machining grades.